Wednesday, 25 March 2009

Comics Theme Park Opens in Kuwait

A new theme park based on comic book series The 99, which has featured work by British artists John Royle and John McCrea, has opened at the Slayel Al-Jahra Resort in Jahra, Kuwait.

Based on the Teshkeel Comics’ comic of the same name, is a joint venture between Teshkeel Media Group and the United Entertainment and Tourism Company and features rides based on characters from the series, including Jabbar’s Chariot Riders (a train-ride), an aeroplane ride named after flying character Rafie and a swinging Viking ship called Journey of the Noor Stones.

The 99 are the world's first superhero team based on Islamic culture and history, featuring 99 characters from 99 different countries, each character's powers reflecting one of the traditional 99 attributes of Allah in Islam. Examining the lives of individual characters from many different cultures and backgrounds, these characters find themselves transformed from ordinary human beings into super-powered heroes.

“Seeing our characters transformed from 2D drawings into a real-world setting is not only a dream come true for me," Dr Naif Al-Mutawa, founder of the Teshkeel Group, told the Kuwait Times, "but also an indicator of the tremendous growth potential for the 99 brand.”

The two companies plan to open a new park each year for the next six years. Teshkeel Comics partnered with Marvel to publish popular comic book titles in the Arabic language for the Middle East back in 2006 (see news story).

The site downthetubes.net, which began publishing in 1999, is edited by John Freeman whose credits include editor of Doctor Who Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, Star Wars Magazine, and Marvel UK titles such as Overkill, Death's Head II, Warheads and others. He's currently editor of the upcoming Strip Magazine for Print Media Productions.

About the Writers:

• Matthew Badham has written features for Judge Dredd: The Megazine, the Forbidden Planet International blog and more

• Jeremy Briggs contributes news, reviews, interviews and historical articles on British comics. He is a guest writer on Steve Holland's UK comics history blog, Bear Alley, and has written for Comics International, TV Zone, Spaceship Away and Omnivistascope.

• David Hailwood has written comic strips for various publications, including TOXIC, Accent UK, Bulletproof and Futurequake. He also writes comedy material for TV, and regularly contributes to the Temple APA (a showcase for UK comic writers and artists).

• Andy Luke is a writer who draws: he's s created the eponymous Andy Luke's Comic Book, Gran, Absence: a comic about epilepsy, Hold the Phones, It's Alex Jones, and graphic novel, The Watch Thief. He's written about comics too, mainly for Bugpowder.com, and has been involved with the Caption comics festival in Oxford. He currently lives in Belfast with a large box of pasta and a 7ft tall cigarette, and can be found online at http://andy-luke.com and http://awriterwhodraws.com

• Ian Wheeler is a freelance writer who also edited the highly-acclaimed British comics fanzine Eagle Flies Again.